Durant aiming to erase ghosts of Grey Cups past When the Roughriders won the 2007 Grey Cup, then-backup quarterback Darian Durant could feel Kerry Joseph's sense of relief. “I just remember the feeling at the end of the game that Kerry had,” said Durant. “It's every quarterback's dream to be able to win the championship, especially with the amount of rings that are missing within this organization – you know, three in a hundred years is not a good ratio.” Durant recalled the situation at the Riders' media availability on Tuesday, which signaled the unofficial start of Grey Cup week.“I was asked earlier about the monkey being off your back,” Durant continued. “I could sense that with him and that's kind of the same feeling I had.” Two Grey Cup appearances later with nothing to show for, the 31-year-old now feels first-hand what Joseph was going through heading into that game seven years ago. “If you look back at '09, that was a game that we felt like we had and we should have had, and the way that it ended was devastating to everyone that was on that team,” the veteran pivot said of the infamous game that's become known as the '13th man'. “A lot of guys that were on that team, we got a second shot in 2010 and we didn't get it,” he continued. “When you look back on your career and you look back on the opportunities that slipped away, that's definitely what you pinpoint.” It's what fans and media pinpoint as well, as no quarterback in the league has gone more under fire since then than Durant. As recently as last season some fans called for the promotion of backup quarterback Drew Willy to the starting role – despite the fact that Durant finished 2012 with a quarterback rating of 92.4, even while playing under a first-year head coach and a brand new offence.“Darian takes so much criticism, even when I wasn't here I noticed it but he's had a different offensive coordinator every single year,” said Ricky Foley, who spent last season in Toronto playing with a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Ricky Ray. Related Links Riders excited for week ahead The Saskatchewan Roughriders say they can stay focused amid the hype of playing the Grey Cup on home turf in front of their notoriously rabid fans. Pedersen: Best matchup ever? 101st Grey Cup Centre Foley said Ray's been among the league's best for a while now, but one thing the Argo pivot had that Durant hasn't is stability. “The fans and the media don't understand how hard that is, nowadays offensive playbooks are so complex, it takes so much to learn those and you really only have two weeks during training camp,” Foley added. Yet Durant has put all that aside to prove his critics wrong in these playoffs,Cheap NFL Jerseys, as he's overcome two difficult opponents and put up some of the best numbers of his career to help lead his team to a berth in the Grey Cup at home. Foley said he was among the happiest after each of those wins. “There was nobody happier in that room than myself or Darian against BC when he took over and got us to the Western Final,” he said. “Last game he led us again, he's taken the team on his shoulders and I'm just really happy for a guy who takes a lot of criticism to come out there and be a star like he is.” “I don't know if there's anybody in the league better than Darian Durant so [the media] need to give him a break sometimes.”That might actually happen if the Riders can win on Sunday, as a championship is all he needs to silence even his most vocal critics for good. Durant even admits that not doing so sooner has been the source of all criticism.“I think that I get criticized more because I'm not a champion,” said Durant. “But if the outcome would have been different, of course there's not much you could say because now you could put me up there with all the guys that have won.”While he can't go back and change those results, he knows that Sunday remains in his control. And at stake isn't just a championship for his beloved team and fans on home turf, but a chance to put his name up there with some of the past's great quarterbacks“I think he's a guy that's gone through a lot, especially being here there's a lot of tension that's always on him – and I think that will be a plus to him,” said second-year head coach Corey Chamblin, who's stood firm in supporting his starting quarterback.“I think that will be the capstone for him to say 'you know what, all my hard work's paid off, I've matured as a quarterback and I've matured into a Grey Cup quarterback.”Durant on the other hand can't help but think about what it might be like to finally get that monkey off his back. “Quarterbacks are measured off of championships and to finally be able to get it, it would mean the world to me,” he said. “You want to go down in history as one of the greats and in order to do that you have to have a championship on your résumé.”Until that happens, Durant will remain haunted by his ghosts of Grey Cups' past.

Durant aiming to erase ghosts of Grey Cups past When the Roughriders won the 2007 Grey Cup, then-backup quarterback Darian Durant could feel Kerry Joseph's sense of relief. “I just remember the feeling at the end of the game that Kerry had,” said Durant. “It's every quarterback's dream to be able to win the championship, especially with the amount of rings that are missing within this organization – you know, three in a hundred years is not a good ratio.” Durant...